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THE    HENPECKED   CANAEY. 


SiLYER  LAKE  STORIES 


AUBURN    AND    BUFFALO: 

JOHN    E.    BEARDSLEY. 

1857. 


THE     JUMBLE; 

A  COLLECTION  OF  PIECES 

IN  PROSE  AND  RHYME, 

FOR   THE  | 

O  ssoam, 

JUIustratfons. 


BY  COUSIN  CICELY. 

OF    "THE   OLD   POST  FOLIO,"   ITO. 


£.  Loyem'r-z,     L 


AUBCRN    AND    ROCHESTER: 

ALDEN    AND    BEARDSLEY. 

1856. 


Entered,  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  tho  year  1852,  by 

ALDEN    BEARDSLEY    &    CO., 
In  the  Clerk's  Office  of  the  Northern  District  of  New  York. 


STEREOTYPED   BT 

THOMAS  B.  SMITH, 
216  William  8U,N.T. 


F74 


To   MY   DEAR    LITTLE   READERS, 

You  have  all  heard  again  and  again  the  old 
saying  that  '•'  you  cannot  have  your  cake  and  eat  it  too ;" 
now  I  am  going  to  prove  that  this  old  saying  does  not 
always  hold  good,  by  offering  to  my  little  readers  a 
"  Jumble"  which  they  may  devour  as  often  as  they  please, 
and  yet  (if  they  use  it  with  care)  they  will  always  find  it 
ready  to  be  devoured  again.  Too  much  cake  is  apt  to 
injure  little  children,  and  to  make  them  fretful  and  cross, 
but  I  hope  that  the  "  Jumble"  I  now  offer  them,  will  do 
them  good,  and  make  them  determine  always  to  be  kind 
and  obedient,  truthful  and  honest,  industrious  and  tem- 
perate ;  and  I  have  only  to  add  that  with  the  blessing  of 
God  upon  them,  I  hope  all  of  my  little  readers  may 
prove  respectable  and  useful  members  of  society. 


LIBRARY 


THE.  SILVER  LAKE  STORIES, 

COMPKISING  THE  FOLLOWING  VOLUMES.     , 

I.— THE  JUMBLE. 

II— THE  OLD  PORTFOLIO. 
III.— THE  GREEN  SATCHEL. 
IV.— THE  CORNUCOPIA. 

V,— AUNT  PATTY'S  MIRROR. 
VI.— THE  BUDGET. 


Page 

THE   WAX   DOLL, 11 

THE   HENS'    CONVENTION, 22 

THE    BROKEN   CHINA,         .  .  .  ,  .  .  .31 

THE    ECHO, 53 

"IF   I   ONLY   HAD   A   SAW!"     .            .            .       S»           .  .         66 

THE   FIRST   POCKET, 75 

LITTLE  ANNIE'S  PEATEE, 78 

THE  WHITE  TOP-KNOT, 84 

"WHY  IS  NOT  SANTA  OLATTS,  GOD?"      ....       88 
LITTLE  PHEBE  AND  HER  GRANDMOTHER,     ...  94 

THE  HEN-PECKED  CANARY,     .        .         .     -^        .        .100 

'IS   MY   THREE-CENT-PIEOE   A   TALENT?"      .  .  .  104 

THE   LADY   WITH   A    "DROP   IN   HER  EYE,"        .  .  .  114 

THE   CROW   AND   THE   TITMOUSE,  ....  117 

UTTLE    BESSIE,          ........  123 

THE   COUSINS, 133 


of 


Pagt 
THE  HEX-PECKED  CANARY,  ....        Frontispiece. 

EMMA'S  WAX  DOLL,        .......  13 

THE  HENS'  CONTENTION,     ......  23 

THE  BROKEN  CHINA,        .......  36 

THE  ECHO,            .           .            .            .....  54 

"IF   I   ONLY  HAD  A  SAW!"     ......  67 

LITTLE   ANNIE'S   PEAYEH,     .,..,.           .           .            .  V9 

"WHY   IS  NOT   SANTA   CLATTS   GOD?"         ....  89 

LITTLE   PHEBE  AND   HER   GRANDMOTHER,      .            .           .  95 

HOW  TO   SPEND  THE  MONEY,              .....  108 

THE  BOTTLE  TITMOUSE,         .           ..';••»          .           .           .  118 

THE    SICK    FATHER,            .......  124 

MARTHA   AND   PRISCILLA   IN  THE   GARDEN,  .           .           .  134 


soli. 


SWISH  you  could  have  seen  the  wax 
doll  that  was  sent  to  Emma  from 
the  city.     She  was  a  perfect  beau- 
ty !    Her  cheeks  and  lips  were  as  red 
as  roses,  and  her  beautiful  flaxen  hair 
curled  in  ringlets   around  her  lovely 
face,  and  down  her  white  neck. 

She  had  on  an  elegant  blue  dress, 
and  brown  morocco  slippers,  and  a 
blue  sash,  and  a  string  of  beads  around 


12  THE   SILVER   LAKE   STORIES. 

her  neck.  But  her  eyes!  oh!  if  you 
could  have  seen  her  eyes  ! 

"When  she  first  came,  Emma  thought 
she  had  no  eyes,  for  she  only  saw  a  sort 
of  white  film  over  the  place  where  the 
eyes  should  be ;  but  her  mamma  quiet- 
ly put  her  hand  up  under  the  dress, 
and  pulled  a  wire,  and  the  beautiful 
bright  blue  eyes  flew  open  so  suddenly 
that  Emma  was  frightened  at  first ;  but 
in  a  moment  she  jumped,  and  laughed, 
and  clapped  her  hands,  and  was  so  de- 
lighted that  her  beautiful  doll's  eyes 
would  open  and  shut. 

Her  mamma  allowed  her  to  take  the 
doll  in  her  hands,  and  look  at  it  for  a 


EMMA'S   WAX   DOLL. 


14:  THE   SILVER   LAKE   STORIES. 

little  while,  and  then  she  laid  her  away 
in  the  drawer  of  a  bureau,  which  was  in 
a  spare  room  up  stairs;  and  she  said 
to  Emma, — 

"Wax  dolls  are  very  delicate,  my 
dear ;  they  are  easily  spoiled,  and  will 
melt  if  they  are  in  too  warm  a  place. 
Now  I  want  you  to  see  how  long  you 
can  keep  your  doll,  to  show  to  your 
kind  aunty,  who  sent  her  to  you.  When 
you  want  to  look  at  her,  or  to  show  her 
to  any  of  your  little  friends,  I  will  take 
her  out  for  you,  and  you  may  sometimes 
hold  her  a  little  while  when  you  are 
sitting  by  me;  but  you  must  never 
take  her  out  yourself." 


THE   SILVER   LAKE   STORIES.  15 

Emma  promised  that  she  would  do 
as  her  mother  said,  and  for  many  days 
she  kept  her  word.  When  any  of  her 
little  friends  came  to  see  the  doll,  she 
would  run  and  ask  her  mother  to  please 
to  take  her  out,  and  show  her  to  them ; 
and  she  was  always  delighted  to  see 
how  astonished  they  were,  when  the 
doll's  eyes  opened  and  shut;  for  such 
a  doll  had  never  been  seen  in  their  vil- 
lage "before. 

One  day  Emma  brought  home  from 
school  a  little  girl,  who  had  never  yet 
seen  the  doll,  and  who  was  very  anx- 
ious to  see  it ;  but  her  disappointment 


16  THE   SILVER   LAKE   STORIES. 

was  very  great,  when  she  found  thai 
her  mother  had  just  gone  out. 

"I  am  afraid  I  cannot  show  her  to 
you,  Kitty,"  said  Emma,  "for  mamma 
says  I  must  not  take  her  out  myself." 

"But  cannot  we  just  go  up  in  the 
room  and  look  at  her  ?"  asked  Kitty. 

"  Well,  I  don't  suppose  there  would 
be  any  great  harm  in  that,"  answered 
Emma. 

So  they  went  up  to  the  spare  room, 
and  Emma  opened  the  drawer  a  little 
way,  for  Kitty  to  peep  in. 

"Pull  the  drawer  open  a  little  wider, 
Emma,  so  that  I  can  see  her  plainly." 

So  Emma  drew  it  a  little  farther  open. 


THE    SILVER   LAKE    STORIES.  17 

"  Oh,  how  lovely  she  is !  Make  her 
eyes  open  and  shut,  Emma." 

So  Emma  pulled  the  wire,  and  Kitty 
said  she  had  never  seen  anything  so 
beautiful. 

"Do  just  lift  her  out  a  minute,  Em- 
ma, and  let  me  see  her  curls  behind," 
said  Kitty. 

Emma  thought  that  would  do  no 
harm,  so  she  lifted  out  the  doll,  and 
they  turned  her  round  and  round,  and 
examined  her  very  carefully. 

Pretty  soon  Kitty  said,  "Oh,  Emma, 
it  is  so  cold  up  here ;  let  us  take  her 
down  in  the  dining-room." 

"Oh,   no!"    said    Emma;    "mamma 

2 


18  THE    SILVER   LAKE    STORIES. 

would  be  very  angry;  for  she  said  I 
must  never  take  her  myself." 

"But  you  have  taken  her,  and  you 
have  not  hurt  her  at  all ;  and  I  think 
we  can  take  just  as  good  care  of  her  as 
your  mother  does.  Let  us  take  her 
down  for  a  few  minutes  at  any  rate; 
we  can  bring  her  back  before  your 
mother  comes  home." 

Emma  at  length  allowed  herself  to 
be  persuaded  by  her  little  friend,  and 
they  took  the  beautiful  doll  down 
stairs.  After  they  had  played  with 
her  a  little  while,  Kitty  was  sent  for  to 
go  home ;  and  just  as  Emma  was  pre- 
paring to  take  her  dolly  up  stairs,  she 


THE   SILVER   LAKE   STORIES.  19 

heard  some  one  coming  into  the  room. 
In  haste  and  fright,  she  threw  the  doll 
behind  the  stove,  and  covered  her  with 
a  newspaper. 

It  was  only  Biddy  who  came  in,  but 
Emma  did  not  dare  to  let  Biddy  see 
that  she  had  brought  down  her  doll. 
Biddy  put  several  sticks  of  wood  in  the 
stove,  and  it  soon  began  to  be  very 
hot. 

Before  Biddy  left  the  room,  Emma's 
mother  came  home,  and  called  Emma 
to  come  up  stairs  with  her,  as  she 
wanted  to  show  her  something  she  had 
bought  for  her.  Ernma  obeyed,  but 
she  could  take  no  pleasure  in  looking 


20  THE    SILVER   LAKE    STORIES. 

at  the  beautiful  new  dress  her  mother 
had  bought  her,  for  she  was  all  the 
time  thinking  of  her  beautiful  wax 
doll,  melting  down  behind  the  stove. 

As  soon  as  she  could  leave  her 
mother's  room,  she  hastened  down 
stairs ;  the  dining-room  was  very  hot ; 
the  stove  was  red*;  she  tore  the  news- 
paper from  the  doll.  Oh !  oh !  what  a 
sight !  Eyes,  cheeks,  and  lips,  were  all 
melted  into  one  mass,  and  the  soft  wax 
had  run  down  over  the  white  neck,  and 
mixed  with  the  flaxen  ringlets,  and  the 
lovely  doll  was  ruined ! 

Oh,  how  Emma  cried !  But  I  need 
not  tell  you  hoi  badly  she  felt;  any 


THE   SILVER   LAKE   STORIES.  21 

little  girl  can  tell  how  she  would  feel, 
if  she  had  done  as  Emma  did,  and  had 
been  punished  in  the  same  manner.  I 
know  she  thinks  that  she  would  need 
no  other  punishment  than  her  own  dis- 
appointment and  mortification,  and  I 
believe  Emma's  mother  thought  she 
had  suffered  enough,  without  farther 
punishment 


'    6oK)beK)fiof). 


THE  hens  in  a  farmer's  yard  one  day, 

After  holding  a  hen's-rights  convention, 
Came  up  to  the  Eooster  in  solemn  array, 
Having  chosen  as  speaker  old  fat  Mother  Gray, 
To  make  known  their  united  intention. 

Then  old  Mother  Gray  came  and  took  the  barn- 
floor, 

And  thus  she  addressed  the  old  Booster, 
(Who  had  taken  his  post  on  the  open  barn  door ;) 
Having  first  cleared  her  throat  with  a  hem  and 

a  haw. 
"  I  should  like,"  she  began,  "  to  ask  you,  sir, 


THE   HEN  S    CONVENTION. 


24:  THE   SILVER   LAKE    STORIES. 

"  In  the  name  of  the  hens  black  and  white,  brown 

and  gray, 
If  you  know  who  the  thief  is  that  comes  every 

day, 

And  steals  from  our  nest  every  egg  that  we  lay 
In  the  corners  and  lofts,  in  the  grass  and  the  hay, 
And  leaving  but  one  takes  the  rest  all  away  ? 

"Now  there's  old  Mother  White,  who  for  some 

days  has  tried 

A  beautiful  pile  of  fine  large  eggs  to  hide, 
Which  she  thought  she  had  stowed  very  safely 

away  ; 

But  for  her  it  unluckily  happened  to-day, 
That  while  she  was  cackling,  (as  what  hen  does 

not?) 

To  tell  that  she'd  added  one  more  to  the  lot, 
Some  person  came  into  the  barn-yard  and  saw 
Just  where  she  had  hid  her  eggs  under  the  straw, 


THE    SILVER   LAKE   STORIES.  25 

And  the  next  thing  she  knows  of  her  eggs  she's 

bereft, 
And  she  finds  that  a  chalk  one  is  all  that  is  left. 

"Now  this  is  a  thing  that  no  longer  we'll  bear, 
And  to-day  we  have  met,  sir,  our  mind  to  declare, 
Which  is  this — that  we  all  to  the  woods  will  re- 
pair, 
And  we'll  see  if  they'll  follow  and  find  our  eggs 

there ; 

For  as  you  will  admit,  sir,  the  thing  is  quite  clear, 
That  no  broods  will  be  raised  if  we  stay  longer 

here, 

So  to-night  from  the  barn -yard  we'll  all  disappear, 
And  Fll  lay  that  we'll  show  some  nice  chickens 
this  year." 

Said  the  Rooster,  "  I  grieve,  ma'am,  to  hear  your 

intention, 
And  if  you'll  excuse  me,  I  just  wish  to  mention, 


26  THE   SILVER   LAKE    STORIES. 

That  I've  noticed  the  outrage  and  grieve  for  the 

same ; 
Still  I  think  that  the  hens  themselves  only  can 

blame  ; 

For  not  one  of  you  e'er  can  an  egg  lay  in  quiet, 
But  you  set  up  a  cackling  and  clucking  and  riot, 
And  thus  you  get  punished  you  see  for  your 

pride  : 
"WTiat  you  tell  out  yourselves  you  can  ne'er  hope 

to  hide." 

At  this  every  hen  towards  the  old  rooster  springs ; 
Such  a  rustling  of  feathers  and  shaking  of  wings, 
Such  cackling  and  screaming,  and  clucking  and 

rage, 

You  ne'er  saw  in  a  barn-yard  before,  I'll  engage. 
They  told  the  old  Rooster  that  "  whene'er  a  hen 
Made  a  cackling  or  clucking,  you  might  be  sure 

then, 


THE   SILVER   LAKE   STORIES.  27 

That  she'd  done  a  good  thing ;  but  could  any  one 

say, 
(Though  they  might  hear  him  crow  half  a  mile 

any  day) 
That  an  egg  he  had  ever  been  known  once  to 

lay?" 

The  Rooster  to  make  his  voice  heard  tried  in 

vain, 
Shut  his  eyes,  clapped  his  wings,  crowed  again 

and  again, 
But  was  forced  to  come  down  from  his  seat  on 

the  door, 
And  (his  crowing  all  hushed)  take  his  place  on 

the  floor. 
Then  out  of  the  barn-yard  they  marched  two  and 

two, 
And  he  never  presumed  to  cry  "  cock-doodle- 

doo ;» 


28  THE   SILVER   LAKE   STORIES.- 

But  came  meekly  behind,  with  his  feelings  much 

hurl, 
And  his  tail,  once  his  pride,  dragging  low  in  the 

dirt. 

To  the  woods  the  whole  party  in  haste  now  re- 
paired, 

And  while  it  was  warm  very  nicely  they  fared ; 
Still  their  feelings  encountered  some  very  rude 


For  their  eggs  very  often  were  sucked  by  the 

fox; 

And  one  night  he  came  slyly  and  carried  away 
Their  friend  and  adviser  old  fat  Mother  Gray. 

"When  the  leaves  were  all  scattered  by  autumn's 
rude  breeze, 

And  no  roost  could  they  find  but  the  bare  leaf- 
less trees, 


THE   SILVER   LAKE    STORIES.  29 

Oh,  then  they  remembered  the  nice  dainty  fare, 
And  warm  nests  of  the  barn-yard,  and  wished 

themselves  there ; 

And  soon  they  determined  their  steps  to  retrace, 
And  resume  in  the  barn-yard  their  now  vacant 

place  ; 
And  the  kindness  which  fed  them  so  well  every 

day, 

They  would  be  very  willing  with  eggs  to  repay, 
So  they  begged  of  the  Booster  to  lead  on  the  way. 

"When  they  drew  near  the  farm   and  the  barn 

came  in  view, 

He  flew  on  the  post,  and  cried  "  cock-doodle-do !" 
And  there  they  remain  still  for  all  I  can  say, 
And  the   same  kind  of  food  receive  day  after 

day; 

And  still  they  observe  that  as  fast  as  they  lay, 
Their  eggs  as  before  are  all  taken  away ; 


30  THE   SILVER   LAKE   STORIES. 

But  this  lesson  I  think  they've  been  willing  to 

learn 
That  for  kindness  received  they  must  make  some 

return. 


«HEN  I  was  a  little  girl  I  lived  in 
a  very  large  city ;  but  I  always 
passed  my  summer  vacation  of 
six  weeks  at  my  aunt's  beautiful  place 
in  the  country.  Oh!  with  how  much 
delight  I  used  to  look  forward  to  the 
time  when  I  should  leave  the  hot,  dusty 
city,  and  go  to  the  beautiful  green  fresh 
fields,  and  play  Reside  the  little  stream 
which  ran  near  my  aunt's  house ;  and 


32  THE    SILVER    LAKE   STORIES. 

roam  all  day,  without  any  thought  of 
books,  or  work,  or  anything  but  play ! 

Oh !  I  used  to  have  very  merry  hap- 
py times  there,  till  one  summer  when  I 
did  something  very  wrong ;  and  that 
one  sin  spoiled  all  my  pleasure  for 
months  and  years,  and  made  me  dread, 
rather  than  wish,  to  make  my  usual 
summer  visit  to  the  country.  How 
much  trouble  one  single  sin  will  cause ! 

My  aunt  had  no  children  of  her  own, 
but  as  she  was  very  fond  of  children, 
she  used  to  invite  those  of  her  friends 
to  visit  her;  and  sometimes  two  or 
three  little  girls  besides  myself,  would 
be  spending  their  vacations  with  her 


THE    SILVER   LAKE    STORIES.  33 

at  the  same  time.  There  was  one  dear 
little  gentle  girl  named  Alice,  who  was 
staying  there  with  me  one  summer; 
she  was  a  child  of  most  lovely  dispo- 
sition, but  very  timid  and  fearful  of 
being  found  fault  with. 

One  afternoon  it  was  raining  very 
fast,  and  we  were  obliged  to  amuse 
ourselves  in  the  house.  After  trying 
several  other  plays,  we  thought  we 
would  play  blind-man's-buff.  I  should 
have  mentioned  that  there  was  a  girl 
a  little  older  than  myself,  who  lived 
with  my  aunt  as  a  servant ;  her  name 
was  Sally.  She  was  a  very  bright  girl, 
and  very  amusing ;  but  she  was  not  so 

3 


THE    SILVER   LAKE   STORIES. 

good  a  girl  as  my  aunt  thought  she 
was,  as  you  will  see  before  I  have  done 
with  my  story. 

Sometimes  when  she  had  finished 
her  work,  she  was  allowed  to  play  with 
us,  and  we  were  always  very  glad  when 
this  was  the  case.  On  the  afternoon 
of  which  I  have  spoken,  when  it  came 
Sally's  turn  to  be  blindfolded,  she  tied 
on  the  handkerchief  herself,  and  then 
said  she  could  not  see  anything,  not 
even  the  light.  But  she  flew  around 
the  room  after  us  so  fast,  and  took 
such  good  care  not  to  hurt  herself,  that 
it  .was  really  wonderful  to  see  her: 
but  we  did  not  think  much  of  that; 


THE    SILVER   LAKE   STORIES.  35 

for  we  thought  Sally  could  do  any- 
thing. 

In  a  few  minutes  she  had  chased 
Alice  and  me  into  a  corner,  and  just  as 
she  was  going  to  lay  her  hand  on  me, 
I  sprang  from  her,  and  unfortunately 
dashed  against  a  little  stand,  on  which 
was  placed  a  very  valuable  set  of  china, 
which  had  been  sent  to  my  aunt  from 
China.  What  was  my  horror  when  I 
heard  a  crash,  and  at  the  same  moment 
saw  the  beautiful  china  set  all  shivered 
to  atoms  on  the  floor ! 

What  was  it  that  made  me  turn 
round  and  accuse  poor  little  Alice  of 
breaking  the  china?  I  had  always 


36  THE    SILVER    LAKE    STORIES. 


THE    BROKEN    CHINA. 


been  called  a  truthful  little  girl;  I 
thought  I  was  so ;  but  I  was  frightened 
at  having  done  such  serious  mischief; 
I  saw  that  Sally's  eyes  were  blindfolded, 
and  I  knew  that  little  Alice  would  not 
dare  to  persist  in  denying  what  I  said, 


THE   SILVER   LAKE   STORIES.  37 

and  then  I  thought,  too,  that  as  Alice 
was  more  of  a  stranger  than  I,  my  aunt 
would  not  reprove  her  as  she  would 
me. 

All  these  things  Satan  put  into  my 
head,  and  I  did  not  ask  God  to  help 
me  to  drive  them  away.  They  passed 
through  my  head  in  a  moment,  and 
almost  as  soon  as  the  china  set  was 
broken,  I  had  turned  to  little  Alice, 
and  said, — 

"Oh!  Alice,  see  what  you  have 
done  I" 

I  remember  how  her  cheeks  flushed, 
and  her  beautiful  blue  eyes  opened 
with  astonishment  as  she  said — 


38  THE    SILVER   LAKE    STORIES. 

"  I,  Lizzy  ?  Why  I  was  not  near  the 
table!" 

Oh!  if  I  had  only  acknowledged  the 
truth  even  then ;  but  I  did  not ;  I  said, 

"You  broke  it,  Alice,  and  you  know 
you  did  1" 

Just  then  my  aunt,  who  had  heard 
the  crash,  came  to  the  parlor  door. 
She  looked  sad  and  displeased  as  she 
said, 

"Oh,  children,  who  has  done  this 
mischief?" 

We  were  all  silent. 

"Lizzy,"  said  my  aunt,  "did  I  not 
hear  you  say  that  Alice  broke  the 
china  ?" 


THE    SILVER   LAKE   STORIES.  39 

I  said  "  Tes,  ma'am ;"  but  oh,  how  I 
wanted  even  then  to  confess  the  truth ! 
But  I  was  too  proud  to  say  that  I  had 
told  a  lie  in  throwing  the  blame  on 
Alice. 

"Alice,"  said  my  aunt,  "did  you 
break  my  beautiful  things  ?" 

Alice  faintly  said,  "No,  ma'am;" 
while  her  face  was  crimson,  and  the 
tears  stood  in  her  eyes. 

"It  is  always  best,  dear,  to  tell  the 
truth,"  said  my  aunt.  "I  am  very,  very 
sorry  to  lose  my  beautiful  china,  but  I 
had  rather  lose  a  great  many  other 
valuable  things,  than  to  find  out  that 
one  of  my  little  friends  would  tell  a 


40  THE    SILVER   LAKE    STORIES. 

falsehood.  I  love  good  little  girls,  but 
I  do  not  wish  to  have  any  little  girls 
come  to  see  me  who  will  deceive  me, 
and  say  what  is  not  true." 

Poor  dear  little  Alice  did  not  dare  to 
say  that  I  had  told  the  lie,  for  she  saw 
that  my  aunt  would  not  believe  her 
against  me,  but  she  looked  into  my 
face,  oh!  so  imploringly,  as  much  as 
to  say,  "Do,  Lizzy,  tell  the  truth,  and 
save  me  from  this  disgrace." 

But  I  did  not  speak  the  truth,  and 
Alice,  who  was  now  unhappy  with  us, 
wrote  to  her  father  to  come  and  take 
her  home.  I  took  care  not  to  be  alone 
with  her  before  she  left,  but  oh!  how 


THE   SILVER   LAKE   STORIES.    .  1 

her  little  pale  sad  face  reproached  me, 
and  how. my  conscience  kept  saying  to 
me,  "Wicked,  wicked  girl!"  I  was 
not  happy  after  that ;  I  was  very,  very 
wretched,  but  I  was  to  suffer  yet  more 
for  my  sin.  One  day,  not  long  after 
Alice  left,  the  girl  Sally  came  to  me 
and  proposed  that  we  should  go  up  to 
the  orchard  and  get  some  fine  red 
apples,  which  grew  on  a  particular 
tree.  I  told  her  that  my  uncle  had 
said  we  must  not  take  any  of  those 
apples,  for  he  wished  to  save  them  all 
to  put  up  in  barrels  for  the  winter. 
She  continued  to  urge  me  to  go,  and 
when  I  still  refused,  she  said: 


42  THE   SILVER    LAKE   STORIES. 

"Ah,  Miss  Lizzy!  I  was  not  so  blind 
as  you  thought  I  was  the  day  you  over- 
turned the  stand  in  the  parlor;  I  saw 
it  all ;  I  saw  you  break  the  china  set ; 
and  then  you  threw  the  blame  on  lit- 
tle Alice ;  now  if  you  do  not  go  with 
me  to  the  orchard,  I  will  tell  your  aunt 
the  whole  story." 

Oh,  how  frightened  I  was!  And 
must  I  steal  now,  I  thought,  in  order 
that  the  lie  I  have  told  may  still  be 
concealed?  How  much  better  would 
it  have  been  for  me  if  I  had  even  then 
confessed  the  truth,  than  to  have  put 
myself  in  the  power  of  this  wicked 
girl! 


THE   SILVER   LAKE   STORIES.  43 

But  I  went  with  her,  I  am  ashamed 
to  say,  to  the  orchard,  and  we  took 
some  of  the  nice  red  apples,  and  though 
we  were  not  found  out,  I  had  the  sin 
of  stealing  as  well  as  lying  on  my  con- 
science, and  I  was  very  unhappy. 

During  the  next  winter,  while  my 
aunt  was  staying  with  us  in  the  city, 
she  took  up  a  paper  one  day,  and  read 
in  it  the  death  of  poor  little  Alice. 

"Oh,  how  sorry  I  am!"  said  my 
mother.  "  She  was  a  lovely  child,  she 
was  so  good." 

"  I  always  thought  so,"  said  my  aunt, 
"  till  last  summer,  when  she  did  some- 
thing at  my  house,  which  convinced 


44:  THE   SILVER   LAKE   STORIES. 

me  that  she  was  not  altogether  truth- 
ful." 

Oh,  how  I  felt  while  my  aunt  was 
telling  my  mother  the  story,  but  they 
thought  my  tears  were  caused  only  by 
sorrow  for  the  death  of  Alice. 

When  the  next  summer  came,  I  did 
not  want  to  go  to  the  country,  for  I  was 
afraid  of  Sally.  I  knew  she  would 
make  me  do  wicked  things,  or  bring 
out  the  story  of  my  former  wickedness. 
Oh,  that  falsehood !  it  took  but  a  few 
moments  to  tell  it,  but  it  made  me  an 
unhappy  little  girl  for  years.  When- 
ever I  was  at  any  place  where  I  thought 
I  should  enjoy  myself,  the  remembrance 


THE   SILVER   LAKE   STORIES.  45 

of  my  sin,  and  of  dear  little  Alice, 
would  come  in  and  destroy  all  my 
pleasure. 

But  I  did  not  like  to  ask  to  be  left  at 
home,  when  the  rest  went  to  the  coun- 
try, for  fear  of  the  questions  which 
might  be  asked  me,  and  so  I  went  sum- 
mer after  summer,  and  wretched  enough 
I  was. 

At  length,  one  afternoon,  about  three 
years  after  the  china  was  broken,  my 
aunt  and  several  ladies  who  were  stay- 
ing with  her  having  gone  out  to  ride, 
I  happened  to  go  suddenly  into  a 
closet,  where  my  aunt  kept  some  of 
her  nice  things,  and  there  I  found 


46  THE    SILVER   LAKE   STORIES. 

Sally,  with  a  box  of  raisins  which  she 
had  taken  down  from  a  high  shelf;  the 
box  was  open,  and  Sally  was  in  the  act 
of  putting  a  handful  of  raisins  into  her 
pocket,  when  I  opened  the  door. 

"Oh,  Sally,  Sally!"  I  exclaimed, 
"what  are  you  doing?" 

Sally  was  frightened  at  first,  and 
offered  me  part  of  the  raisins  if  I  would 
not  tell  of  her.  When  I  refused  them, 
she  became  very  angry,  and  said  that 
if  I  told  what  she  had  been  doing,  she 
would  tell  about  the  broken  china,  and 
also  how  I  helped  her  take  the  beauti- 
ful red  apples,  and  several  other  things 
which  she  had  made  me  do,  which  I 


THE   SILVER   LAKE    STORIES.  4:7 

had  much  rather  would  not  be  made 
known. 

But  I  would  not  take  the  raisins,  or 
make  her  any  promises.  I  was  three 
years  older  now  than  when  I  had  first 
put  myself  in  the  power  of  this  wicked 
girl,  and  I  determined  that  I  would 
be  ruled  by  her  no  longer.  I  would 
tell  the  whole  truth,  on  the  first  oppor- 
tunity, from  first  to  last,  no  matter 
what  they  might  think  of  me. 

I  dreaded  it  so  much,  however,  that 
I  put  it  off  from  one  hour  to  another, 
hoping  it  might  be  easier.  Several 
times  I  almost  made  up  my  mind  to 
tell  it  all;  but  the  words  seemed  to 


48  THE   SILVER   LAKE    STORIES. 

stick  in  my  throat,  and  I  could  not  tell 
how  to  begin. 

So  things  went  on  till  the  next  day 
at  dinner.  A  large  company  was  seat- 
ed around  the  table ;  and  when  the 
dessert  was  put  on  the  table,  my  aunt 
said,  "  Ladies,  I  should  like  to  have 
given  you  some  raisins  to  eat  with 
your  nuts  to-day,  but  I  find  that  some- 
body has-  been  at  my  raisin  box,  and 
carried  them  nearly  all  off,  so  that  I 
have  not  enough  left  to  put  on  a 
plate." 

I  glanced  at  Sally,  but  to  my  aston- 
ishment she  looked  just  as  usual,  and 
went  on  quietly  putting  the  things  on 


THE    SILVER   LAKE    STORIES.  49 

the  table,  without  changing  color  at 
all;  but  she  took  very  good  care  not 
to  look  towards  me.  As  there  was  a 
pause  in  the  conversation,  I  looked  up, 
and  happening  to  catch  my  aunt's  eye, 
I  turned  very  red,  so  that  it  seemed  as 
if  the  blood  would  burst  through  my 
cheeks.  Everybody  looked  at  me,  and 
I  knew  they  all  thought  I  had  taken 
the  raisins. 

"Oh  aunty!  oh  ladies!"  I  cried,  "/ 
did  not  take  them,  but  I  know  who  did, 
and  I  have  been  almost  as  wicked.  I 
will  come  back  and  tell  you  all  about 
it!"  And  I  ran  up  to  my  room,  and, 
bursting  into  tears,  I  threw  myself  on 

4 


50  THE    SILVER   LAKE    STORIES. 

my  knees,  and  buried  my  face  in  the 
bed,  and  sobbed  as  if  my  heart  would 
break. 

Then  I  prayed  to  my  Father  in 
heaven  to  forgive  all  my  sins,  and  as 
I  prayed  I  grew  more  calm.  In  about 
an  hour  I  went  down  stairs,  and  found 
the  ladies  all  sitting  round  the  fire  in 
the  dining-room.  I  took  my  seat  on  a 
little  stool  at  my  aunt's  feet,  and  then, 
beginning  at  the  day  when  the  china 
was  broken,  I  told  them  all  that  had 
happened.  I  did  not  attempt  to  ex- 
cuse myself,  or  to  lay  any  more  blame 
on  Sally  than  she  deserved ;  but  I  told 
the  whole  truth,  and  they  all  believed 


THE    SILVER   LAKE    STORIES.  51 

me ;  and  my  aunt  said  though  she  was 
distressed  to  find  how  much  I  had  done 
which  was  wrong,  yet  she  thought  I 
had  suffered  enough  to  make  it  a  warn- 
ing to  me  all  my  days. 

But  she  told  me  that  nothing  would 
keep  me  from  sin  but  the  grace  of  God, 
and  that  I  must  always  pray  to  Him 
for  strength. 

"  But  where  is  Sally  ?"  asked  my 
aunt.  Sally  had  disappeared  the  mo- 
ment she  had  left  the  dining-room,  and 
we  have  never  seen  or  heard  of  her 
since.  In  her  haste  she  left  her  trunk 
just  as  it  was,  and  on  examining  it, 
my  aunt  found  there  many  valuable 


52  THE   SILVER   LAKE    STORIES. 

things  which  she  had  missed,  but 
which  she  had  never  suspected  Sally 
of  taking. 

Little  girl  and  little  boy,  let  this 
story  be  a  warning  to  you.  Never  try 
to  conceal  anything  you  have  done, 
which  is  wrong.  Confess  it  at  once, 
and  it  will  save  you  a  great  deal  of  sor- 
row, and  perhaps  a  great  deal  more 
sin. 


SEE  that  group  of  children  playing 
By  the  water,  near  the  rock ; 

Hark !  what  is  the  echo  saying  ? 
How  their  tones  it  seems  to  mock ! 

Round  and  round  in  glee  they  play, 
In  a  merry  pleasant  game  ; 

Hark  what  does  the  echo  say  ? 

When  they  speak  it  says  the  same. 

When  they  speak  in  gentle  notes, 
Gentle  notes  the  echo  makes ; 


54: 


THE   SILVER   LAKE    STORIES. 


THE    ECHO. 

But  if  angry  words  they  speak, 
Angry  tones  the  echo  takes. 

From  the  echo  in  the  rock 
Let  us  now  a  lesson  learn ; 

Human  echoes  also  mock, 

And  our  words  and  tones  return. 


THE    SILVER    LAKE    STORIES.  55 

If  we  wish  to  hear  kind  words, 
Kind  words  we  must  always  say, 

Let  no  others  e'er  be  heard 
Lovely  children  in  your  play. 

If  'tis  true  that  answering  echoes, 

In  our  playmates'  breasts  are  found, 
Let  us  never  make  them  give  us 
Any  but  a  pleasant  sound. 

Oh,  what  peace  in  every  nursery, 

If  the  little  echoes  there 
All  had  pleasant  words  to  answer, 

All  had  gentle  tones  to  share  ! 


>HAT  a  wretched  tumble-down 
old  building,  that  is,"  said 
one  lady  to  another  as  they 
were  visiting  among  the  houses  of  the 
poor ;  "  do  you  think  it  possible  that 
any  one  can  live  there  ?" 

"I  should  hardly  think  so,  but  we 
will  see,"  answered  her  companion. 

The  wretched  old  shed  of  which  they 
spoke,  overhung  the  lake,  on  whose 


THE   SILVER   LAKE   STORIES.  57 

bank  it  stood,  and  seemed  just  ready 
to  fall  into  the  water.  The  door  stood 
half  open,  and  the  snow  was  drifting 
into  the  lower  part  of  the  shed,  which 
seemed  to  be  too  wretched  a  place  for 
either  man  or  beast  to  live  in. 

On  looking  round,  the  ladies  per- 
ceived a  sort  of  rude  ladder,  which  led 
to  a  loft  above ;  and  hearing  a  slight 
noise,  one  of  them  called  out,  "  Is  there 
any  person  up  there  ?" 

"Yes,   ma'am,"   answered   a   child's 
voice,  and  presently  a  little   boy  ap- 
peared at  the  head  of  the  ladder. 
I     "Is   there   any   one   up   there  with 
you  ?"  asked  one  of  the  ladies. 


58  THE    SILVER   LAKE    STORIES. 

"No,  ma'am,  I'm  alone  now.  Mi- 
chael has  gone  out." 

"  Who  is  Michael  ?" 

"  My  brother,  ma'am." 

"Do  you  two  boys  live  here  all 
alone  ?" 

"Yes,  ma'am;  we  sleep  here  at 
night,  and  I  stay  here  pretty  much  all 
the  day." 

"What  have  you  to  sleep  on?" 

"  Some  straw,  ma'am." 

"  Nothing  to  cover  you  ?" 

"No,  ma'am."    ^ 

"  Where  do  you  get  anything  to  eat  ?" 

"I  beg   a  bit   from   door  to   door, 


THE    SILVER   LAKE    STORIES.  59 

"  And  why  do  you  stay  up  there  in 
the  dark  and  the  cold,  instead  of  going 
out  with  your  brother  ?" 

"Oh,  I  don't  like  to  go  out  with 
Mike,  ma'ani." 

"Why  not?" 

"  I  don't  like  to  tell  you,  ma'ani." 

"  What  is  your  name  ?" 

"  My  name  is  Frank,  ma'am." 

"  Well,  come  home  with  me,  Frank," 
said  one  of  the  ladies ;  and  while  poor 
little  Frank  is  seated  by  her  warm 
kitchen  fire,  eating  some  bread  and 
meat,  I  will  tell  you  something  of  the 
history  of  these  two  boys. 

Their  father  had  been  an  intemper- 


60  THE   SILVER   LAKE   STORIES. 

ate  and  bad  man;  and  their  mother, 
worn  down  by  her  efforts  to  keep  her 
family  fed  and  clothed,  had  sunk  under 
the  power  of  want  and  sickness,  and 
with  her  young  baby,  had  been  buried 
a  few  Weeks  before  our  story  com- 
mences. Not  long  after  that,  the  father 
was  found  one  morning  frozen  to  death, 
having  fallen  as  he  was  making  his 
way  home  very  much  intoxicated. 

The  poor  boys  were  now  turned  out 
from  the  wretched  room  where  they 
had  lodged  with  their  father,  and  had 
taken  refuge  in  the  miserable  shed 
where  the  kind  ladies  found  them. 

Mike,  the  oldest  boy,  slept  on  the 


THE    SILVER   LAKE   STORIES.  61 

straw  in  the  old  shed  at  night,  but  all 
day  he  roamed  about  with  a  set  of  bad 
boys,  who  hung  about  taverns  and 
groceries,  and  lounged  about  the  rail- 
road, and  every  day  he  grew  more  idle, 
and  wicked,  and  wretched. 

But  little  Frank  remembered  his 
poor  mother's  instructions,  for  she  had 
always  charged  them  to  keep  out  of 
the  way  of  bad  boys,  and  never  to  lie, 
or  steal,  or  say  wicked  words ;  and 
then  she  told  them  if  they  were  indus- 
trious and  temperate,  they  would  be 
sure  to  get  along,  and  make  respect- 
able men. 

Poor  little  Frank  tried  to  get  a  little 


62  THE    SILVER   LAKE    STORIES. 

work  to  do,  but  very  few  would  employ 
so  small  a  boy,  and  when  lie  came 
across  the  wicked  set  with  whom  his 
brother  roamed  the  streets,  they  would 
tease  him,  and  torment  him,  till  he 
would  retire  to  his  little  dark  loft,  and 
shiver  there  in  the  cold  all  day. 

One  cold  day  in  January,  a  gentle- 
man, who  was  sitting  by  the  window 
of  his  parlor,  saw  a  little  poor  boy 
standing  on  the  sidewalk  near  him. 
He  was  watching  a  man  who  was  saw- 
ing wood  at  a  little  distance  from  him. 
Every  few  moments,  the  little  boy's 
lips  would  move,  as  if  he  was  saying 
something  to  himself.  The  gentleman 


THE    SILVER   LAKE    STORIES.  63 

who  sat  by  the  window  had  the  curi- 
osity to  raise  it  a  little,  to  hear  what 
the  little  fellow  was  saying.  The  boy 
was  quite  near  him,  but  his  back  was 
towards  the  gentleman,  and  he  did  not 
know  that  any  one  was  listening  to 
him. 

The  first  thing  the  gentleman  heard 
him  say  was,  "  Oh,  I  wish  I  had  a  saw !" 
In  a  moment  or  two  he  said,  "  Oh,  if  I 
only  had  a  saw  !"  Then  he  stood  still 
a  moment,  and  looked  up  and  down 
the  street,  and  then,  fixing  his  eyes 
upon  the  wood-sawyer,  again  he  sighed, 
and  exclaimed,  "  Oh !  how  I  wish  I 
could  get  a  saw  !" 


64:  THE    SILVER    LAKE    STORIES. 

Presently  lie  cast  liis  eyes  upon  the 
ground,  and  spied  there  a  bright  shin- 
ing silver  piece  of  money.  He  stooped 
and  picked  it  up  hastily,  and  a  smile 
stole  over  his  little  thin  sharp  face ; 
and  he  said,  "  I  wonder  if  this  would 
buy  me  a  saw  ?" 

The  boy  stood  for  some  time  with 
the  bright  piece  of  money  in  his  hand ; 
sometimes  he  would  open  his  hand 
a  little  way  and  just  look  at  the  money 
and  smile,  and  then  shut  his  hand 
tight,  as  if  he  was  afraid  he  should  lose 
his  new  found  treasure.  After  a  few 
moments,  a  little  girl  came  down  the 
street;  she  had  a  basket  on  her  arm, 


THE   SILVER   LAKE   STORIES.  65 

and,  as  she  walked  slowly  along,  she 
looked  on  the  ground,  first  on  one  side, 
and  then  on  the  other,  as  if  she  had 
lost  something,  and  all  the  time  she 
was  wiping  away  her  tears  with  her 
apron. 

When  she  came  near  the  little  boy, 
still  walking  along  slowly,  and  looking 
on  the  ground,  and  wiping  away  the 
tears,  he  said  to  her,  "  Little  girl,  have 
you  lost  anything?"  "Oh,  yes,"  said 
she,  "  I've  lost  a  silver  half-dollar." 
And  she  sobbed  so  she-could  scarcely 
speak.  "Granny  gave  it  to  me,"  she 
continued,  "to  buy  some  bread,  and 
she  said  I  must  bring  back  every  cent 


66  THE    SILVER   LAKE    STORIES. 

of  the  change,  and  she  will  whip  me  so 
for  losing  it," 

"  Is  this  your  piece  of  money  ?"  said 
the  boy,  showing  it  to  her. 

"  Oh,  yes,"  she  answered,  her  face 
brightening  in  a  moment ;  "  where  did 
you  find  it  ?" 

"  Just  here,"  answered  the  boy. 

"Then  I  must  have  dropped  it  out 
of  my  pocket  when  I  tripped  over  this 
wood,  and  fell  down,"  said  the  little 
girl.  "Oh,  thank  you!  thank  you!  I  am 
so  glad !  Now  granny  won't  whip  me !" 

The  little  boy  looked  pleased  for  a 
moment,  for  he  had  done  a  right  action ; 
but  when  he  looked  at  the  wood-saw- 


^raiMiiiiiUJiiiiiM 

IF    I    ONLY    HAD    A    SAW. 


68  THE    SILVER    LAKE    STORIES. 

yer  again,  a  shade  of  sadness  came 
over  his  face,  and  he  said,  "  Oh,  dear, 
I  shall  never  be  able  to  get  a  saw!" 
and  he  sat  down  on  the  stone  door-step 
of  the  house. 

"  I  must  know  more  of  that  child," 
said  the  gentleman  to  himself,  and 
closing  the  window  gently,  and  step- 
ping to  the  door,  he  tapped  the  boy  on 
the  shoulder  and  called  him  in. 

"What  is  your  name,  my  boy?" 

"  Frank,  sir." 

"  Ah,  you  must  be  the  boy  my  wife 
has  spoken  of." 

"  Yes,  sir,  the  lady  here  is  very  kind 
to  me,  and  gives  me  cold  bits." 


THE    SILVER   LAKE   STORIES.  69 

"And  why  were  you  wishing  for  a 
saw,  just  now  ?" 

The  boy  looked  surprised  that  the 
gentleman  knew  his  thoughts,  for  he 
did  not  know  that  he  had  spoken  them 
aloud ;  but  he  answered, 

"Oh,  if  I  had  a  saw,  sir,  I  could 
take  care  of  myself,  and  I  would  not 
have  to  beg.  There  is  many  a  poor 
person  would  give  me  wood  to  saw, 
because  I  would  work  cheaper  than 
the  men,  but  they  have  no  saw  them- 
selves." 

"  Well,  Frank,  what  if  I  should  buy 
you  a  saw,  and  let  you  pay  for  it  as 
you  can  ?" 


70  THE   SILVER   LAKE   STORIES. 

"  Oh,  if  you  would  be  so  kind,  sir,  I 
would  be  sure  and  pay  you." 

Seeing  that  the  child  was  very  thinly 
clothed,  the  gentleman  called  his  wife, 
who  knew  her  little  friend  Frank,  as 
soon  as  she  saw  him.  He  asked  her 
if  she  could  not  find  some  clothes  for 
Frank.  She  replied  that  she  had  given 
away  almost  everything,  but  she  sup- 
posed she  must  give  him  a  second- 
hand suit  belonging  to  her  oldest  little 
boy,  who  was  nearly  the  size  of  Frank. 

That  same  evening  the  cook  came 
up,  and  told  the  lady  that  a  little  boy 
wanted  to  speak  to  her.  It  was  Frank 
again.  Putting  his  hand  in  the  pocket 


THE    SILVER   LAKE   STORIES.  71 

of  the  pantaloons,  he%  said,  "  I  think 
you  did  not  know,  ma'am,  that  this  was 
in  it."  And  as  he  said  so,  he  pulled 
out  a  shilling. 

The  lady  praised  him  for  his  honesty, 
but  told  him  he  might  keep  the  shil- 
ling, to  help  pay  for  the  saw.  Frank 
was  now  warmly  clothed,  and  he  care- 
fully laid  up  all  his  money,  and  every 
second  day  he  brought  two  or  three 
shillings  to  the  gentleman  to  pay  for 
the  saw.  As  he  said,  he  got  plenty  of 
work,  but  then  he  could  not  work  so 
fast  as  a  man,  and  he  got  but  little 
pay.  It  was  not  a  great  while,  how- 
ever, before  he  had  paid  for  the  saw ; 


72  THE    SILVER   LAKE    STORIES. 

but  though  the  gentleman  thought  it 
best  to  take  the  money,  he  laid  it  all 
away  for  Frank's  use  at  some  future  time. 

About  this  time,  the  boy  who  had 
worked  for  this  gentleman  having 
turned  out  to  be  dishonest,  he  turned 
him  away ;  and  though  Frank  was  not 
so  large,  yet  as  he  was  very  industri- 
ous, and  had  proved  himself  to  be 
strictly  honest,  this  gentleman  took 
him  into  his  employment. 

Here  he  lived  happy  and  well  cared 
for,  for  many  years ;  he  was  taught  to 
read  and  write  well,  and  he  also  gained 
considerable  knowledge  of  arithmetic ; 
so  that  when  George,  his  master's  old- 


THE    SILVER   LAKE    STORIES.  73 

est  son,  went  into  business  in  New 
York,  lie  begged  his  father  to  let  him 
take  Frank  to  be  his  head  clerk. 

And  where  is  Frank,  now  ?  He  is 
doing  business  for  himself ;  he  is  mar- 
ried to  a  respectable  young  woman, 
lives  very  comfortably,  and  is  becom- 
ing a  wealthy  man.  Whenever  he  sees 
a  poor  boy  standing  idle  about  the 
streets,  he  remembers  the  time  when 
he  stood  before  the  gentleman's  house, 
watching  the  wood-sawyer,  and  saying, 
"  Oh,  if  I  only  had  a  saw !"  and  he  al- 
ways stops  to  say  a  word  to  the  boy, 
and  if  he  is  willing  to  work,  he  finds 
employment  for  him. 


74:  THE    SILVER   LAKE    STORIES. 

And  where  is  Mike  now  ?  Ah,  Mike 
went  on  from  bad  to  worse.  He  and 
some  of  his  wicked  companions  were 
taken  up  for  stealing,  and  sent  to  jail ; 
after  being  there  a  few  months,  they 
came  out  much  worse  than  they  went 
in.  Mike  committed  other  crimes,  and 
he  is  now  in  the  state  prison,  and  I 
shall  not  be  much  surprised  to  hear 
some  day  that  he  is  told  by  a  judge, 
that  he  must  "  hang  by  his  neck  till  he 
is  dead !  dead !  dead !" 

Which  is  the  best,  boys,  to  be  hon- 
est and  industrious,  or  to  be  idle,  dis- 
honest, and  wicked  ? 

Which  pays  the  best  in  the  end  ? 


Jfje  Ti 


WHY  what  in  the  world  is  the  matter  with  Harry  ? 
He  seems  so  depressed  and  so  silent  to-day ; 

"With  his  eyes  full  of  tears,  and  his  sweet  face  so 

sorry, 

While  others  around  him  are  happy  and  gay, 
Oh,  what  is  the  matter  with  Harry  to-day  ? 

"Why  the  truth  is,  that  Harry  had  got  his  first 

pocket ; 

And  what  to  put  in  it  he  scarcely  could  say ; 
To  the  closet  he  went  (they'd  forgotten  to  lock  it), 


76  THE   SILVER   LAKE   STORIES. 

And  stole  some  large  lumps  of  white  sugar 

away ; 
Oh,  Harry,  pray  what  would  your  kind  mother 

say? 

Then  out  of  the  house  Harry  flew  like  a  rocket, 
And  over  the  garden  in  haste  his  feet  trod  ; 

"With  the  sugar  he  stole  safely  hid  in  his  pocket, 
And  he  eat  it  behind  a  great  pile  of  sod, 
And  nobody  knew  it  but  Harry  and  God ! 

But  like  all  little  boys,  Harry  had  that  within 

him 
Which  filled  him,  when  naughty,  with  sorrow 

and  shame ; 
Which  took  from  the  treasure  he  stole  all  its 

pleasure, 

And  made  him  so  sad,  can  you  tell  me  its  name  ? 
It  cried  out  every  moment,  "Shame,  Harry 
for  shame !" 


THE    SILVER   LAKE    STORIES.  77 

And  it  gave  him  no  rest  till  he  went  to  his  mother, 

And  freely  confessed  all  his  wickedness  there ; 

She  forgave  him,  but  told  him  there  still  was 

another, 

To  whom  all  his  sin  he  must  frankly  declare, 
One  who  never  would  turn  from  a  little  boy's 
prayer. 

Now  little  boys,  take  my  advice,  and  don't  mock 

it, 

Never  steal  from  another  so  much  as  a  pin, 
And  I  beg  of  all  mothers  who  make  a.  first  pocket, 
To  remember  and  have  something  nice  to  put  in, 
Lest  their  boys,  like  poor  Harry,  are  tempted 
to  sin. 


Jiffie 


'AMMA,"  said  little  Annie,  *  did 
you  not  say  that  God  will  an- 
swer our  prayers,  and  give  us 
what  we  ask  for  ?" 

"  Yes,  dear,  I  said  that  God  will  hear 
the  prayer  of  faith,  that  is,  if  we  really 
believe  that  he  is  able  and  willing  to 
give  us  what  we  ask  for,  then  if  he  sees 
that  it  is  best  for  us  to  have  it,  he  will 
give  it  to  us." 


THE    SILVER   LAKE   STORIES.  79 


LITTLE    ANNIE'S    PRAYER. 


"But,  mamma,"  said  Annie,  the  tears 
rolling  down  her  cheeks,  "  you  remem- 
ber the  few  pretty  beads  that  Aunt  El- 
len gave  me ;  well,  I  wanted  some  more, 
and  I  took  the  beads  into  a  corner,  and 
laid  them  down  before  me,  and  then  I 
kneeled  down,  and  prayed  that  God 


80  THE    SILVER    LAKE    STORIES. 


would  make  them  a  great  pile  of  leads  ; 
and  I  really  believed  he  would.  But 
when  I  opened  my  eyes  he  had  not 
sent  any  more  beads  at  all.  Then  I 
shut  my  eyes  again,  and  prayed  again, 
and  I  did  so  a  great  many  times,  and 
just  see,  mamma!  he  did  not  answer 
my  prayer  at  all  I" 

Her  mother  smiled,  and  taking  little 
Annie  up  in  her  lap,  she  said, 

"You  remember,  darling,  how  our 
Saviour  made  the  five  loaves  and  two 
small  fishes  feed  five  thousand  men  ?" 

"Yes,  ma'am." 

""Well,  dear,  that  was  a  miracle. 
God  does  not  work  by  miracles  now ; 


THE    SILVER   LAKE    STORIES.  81 

he  answers  prayer  in  other  ways,  and 
often  in  a  very  different  way  from  what 
we  expect.  Now  I  will  tell  you  how 
God  answered  the  prayer  of  a  little 
boy  of  whom  I  read  some  time  ago. 

"  He  was  a  very  poor  little  boy ;  his 
father  was  dead,  and  his  mother  was 
sick ;  and  the  family  depended  upon 
the  work  done  by  this  little  boy  for 
their  support. 

One  evening,  after  he  had  been  out 
all  day  looking  for  work,  without  find- 
ing any,  he  returned  to  his  mother's 
poor  cottage,  but  he  had  nothing  with 
him  for  his  little  brothers  and  sisters 
to  eat.  He  shut  the  door,  and  kneel- 


82  THE    SILVER   LAKE    STORIES. 

ing  down,  he  clasped  his  hands  and 
prayed : 

" '  Father  in  heaven,  give  us  this  day 
our  daily  bread !' 

"While  he  was  yet  kneeling,  there 
was  a  knock  at  the  door,  and  behold  a 
kind  lady  had  heard  of  their  case,  and 
had  sent  them  a  basket  of  provisions. 

"And  the  little  boy  said,  'See,  moth- 
er, how  God  has  answered  my  prayer!' " 

"  Yes,  I  see  now,  mamma,"  said  An- 
nie :  "  if  God  had  sent  bread  and  meat 
down  to  them  from  heaven,  it  would 
have  been  a  miracle ;  and  if  God  had 
sent  the  beads  down  to  me,  it  would 
have  been  a  miracle ;  but  I  do  wish  he 


THE   SILVER   LAKE   STORIES.  83 

would  send  some  one  to  give  me  some 
more  beads." 

Her  mother  put  her  hand  in  her 
pocket,  and  gave  her  a  few  pennies, 
and  little  Annie  went  off  perfectly  sat- 
isfied. 


Jlje 


WHITE  Top-knot  was  the  beauty 

'Mid  the  chickens  far  and  wide, 
But,  sorry  am  I  to  confess, 

Her  top-knot  was  her  pride ; 
And  she  scorned  the  other  chickens, 

And  she  held  her  head  so  high, 
That  if  any  of  them  spoke  to  her, 

She  passed  them  coldly  by. 

There  was  one  wee  little  gray  chick, 

A  homely  thing  was  he, 
But  a  kind  obliging  creature 

As  ever  you  did  see ; 


THE    SILVER    LAKE    STORIES.  85 

White  Top-knot  never  noticed  Mm, 

Except  by  scornful  look, 
And  by  seizing  every  dainty  bit 

Thrown  to  him  by  the  cook. 


One  day  the  rain  in  torrents, 

Came  pouring,  pouring  down, 
And  plashed  the  muddy  water  up 

All  over  Top-knot's  crown  ; 
And  her  feathers  now  all  muddy, 

Before  her  eyes  hung  low, 
And  she  wandered  blindly  all  alone, 

Not  knowing  where  to  go. 


Neither  could  Top-knot  see  one  bit, 
To  pick  up  worms  or  corn, 

And  the  chickens  laughed  to  see  her, 
Whom  she'd  angered  by  her  scorn ; 


86  THE   SILVER   LAKE   STORIES. 

But  when  the  little  gray  chick  saw 

Her  sad  and  sorry  plight, 
He  quickly  ran  to  lend  his  aid 

To  set  the  matter  right. 
I 

"  Why  what's  the  matter,  Top-knot  ? 

You're  in  a  sorry  case, 
With  your  beautiful  white  feathers 

All  matted  o'er  your  face ;" 
"  Oh,  come  and  help  me,  Gray  Chick, 

If  there's  aught  that  you  can  do, 
I'm  sure  I  would  be  glad  to  be 

As  ugly  now  as  you." 

Then  Gray  Chick  kindly  led  her 
To  where  a  clear  brook  ran, 

And  when  she'd  dipped  her  head  in, 
He  patiently  began 

To  comb  her  feathers  with  his  beak  ; 
And  when  he  this  had  done, 


THE    SILVER    LAKE    STORIES.  87 

He  bade  her  stand  and  shake  her  head 
Just  where  the  warm  sun  shone. 

And  Top-knot  soon  could  see  the  lighi 

And  now  could  find  her  food, 
And  she  did  not  forget  to  thank 

The  little  Gray  Chick  good  ; 
For  she  saw  that  what  we  most  admire 

May  to  our  ruin  tend, 
And  that  the  ugliest  things  may  be 

Most  useful  in  the  end. 


is  IP*  sswfy  6i  w 


A  QUESTION  ACTUALLY  ASKED  BY  A  LITTLE  CHILD. 

"PAPA,"  said  a  bright  little  boy  one  day, 

As  he  jumped  on  his  father's  knee, 
"  I've  left  my  books  and  left  my  play, 
To  come  and  ask  you  one  question,  and  pray, 
Papa,  do  answer  me. 

"  'Tis  a  thing  that  has  troubled  my  head  all  day, 

Whether  out  with  the  boys  or  alone, 
I  am  sure  that  I  often  have  heard  you  say 
That  there's  one  God  above  to  whom  you  pray, 
And  that  there  is  only  one. 


THE    CHILD'S    QUESTION 


90  THE    SILVER   LAKE    STORIES. 

"  And  is  it  not  so,  Papa  ?  please  tell, 

For  I  very  much  wish  to  know. "  9 

"Be  sure,  my  son,  you  remember  well, 
That  one  God  above,  in  heaven  doth  dwell, 
And  he  reigns  o'er  the  earth  below." 

""Well,  I  can't  understand   it,"  the  little  U-f 
sighed, 

"  And  it  puzzles  my  poor  little  head  ; 
For  there  must  be  more  than  one,  and  beside 
If  old  Effie  says  true,  there  is  /"  he  cried. 

"  Well,  tell  me,  my  boy,  what  she  said." 

"Why  papa,   I've  been  with   her  an   hour    or 
more, 

And  such  beautiful  stories  she  tells 
About  Santa  Glaus  and  his  sleigh  and  four, 
And  the  loads  of  toys  he  has  in  store, 

And  his  merry  jingling  bells. 


THE    SILVER   LAKE   STORIES.  91 

"  And  he  rides  o'er  the  roofs  with  a  skip  and  a 

bound, 

And  down  every  chimney  he  goes, 
And  wherever  the  good  children's  stockings  are 

found, 

He  brings  down  a  load,  and  goes  quietly  round, 
And  stuffs  them  quite  down  to  the  toes." 

"  And  she  says  that  if  ever  I'm  cross  and  don't 

mind, 

Old  Santa  Claus  all  will  know, 
And  that  leaving  the  toys  meant  for  me  all  be- 
hind, 
To  my  poor  empty  stocking  his  eyes  will  be 

blind, 
And  away  up  the  chimney  he'll  go. 

"  Now  please,  papa,  tell  me,  pray  how  can  it  be, 
If  he  can  go  all  abroad, 


92  THE   SILVER   LAKE   STORIES. 

And  over  the  land  and  over  the  sea, 
And  yet  all  the  time  can  be  looking  at  me, 
Why  Santa  Glaus  is  not  God  ?" 

"  Ah,  I  see  now  the  reason  of  all  that  you've  said, 
And  I'm  not  much  surprised  at  the  cause 

Of  the  trouble  there's  been  in  your  poor  little 
head, 

From  the  foolish  stories  you've  heard  and  read 
Of  this  wonderful  Santa  Glaus. 

"  My  boy,  believe  me,  when  I  say  to  you, 

That  these  stories  all  are  made 
By  people  who  have  nothing  better  to  do 
Than  to  tell  children  tales,  not  one  word  of  them 
true, 

To  please  them  or  make  them  afraid." 

"  Then,  Papa,  no  such  being  as  Sa*hta  Glaus  lives, 
And  there  is  but  one  God  after  all  ?" 


THE    SILVER   LAKE    STORIES.  93 

"  Tes,  my  son,  and  'tis  he  all  your  benefits  gives, 
And  from  him  every  being  its  mercies  receives, 
And  he  can  look  down  upon  all. 

"  He  to  one  giveth  life,  and  another  he  kills, 

And  he  gives  every  creature  his  food  ; 
And  to  one  the  sad  portion  of  sorrow  he  wills, 
And  the  cup  of  another  with  pleasure  he  fills, 
And  he  doth  what  to  him  seemeth  good. 

"Give  your  heart,  then,  to  him,  who  gives  you 

life  and  breath, 

Let  him  not  give  these  blessings  in  vain, 
And  then  in  the  hour  of  sickness  and  death, 
You  can  look  up  with  hope  and  rejoice,  for  he 

saith 
That  your  friend  he  will  ever  remain." 


Jjffle  Jtyebe  q$  tjei* 


OWN  in  a  hollow  by  a  brook,  there 
stood  a  little  red  house,  and  in  it 
lived  an  old  woman  and  her  lit- 
tle grand-daughter.  They  were  very 
poor,  but  they  were  happy,  for  though 
they  had  to  work  hard,  yet  they  went 
about  their  work  with  cheerful  hearts, 
and  they  were  always  kind  and  affec- 
tionate to  each  other. 

Little  Phebe  did  all  that  she  could 


96  THE    SILVER    LAKE    STORIES. 

to  help  her  poor  old  grandmother,  and 
the  old  woman  was  never  idle,  I  can 
assure  you;  but  in  all  her  spare  mo- 
ments, she  was  trying  to  make  and 
mend  for  Phebe,  so  that  she  might  be 
warm  and  decent. 

When  Christmas  was  coming,  they 
did  not  forget  it,  for  though  the  old 
woman  was  so  poor  that  she  could  not 
afford  to  buy  toys  and  candies  for 
Phebe,  yet  she  never  forgot  to  have  a 
Christmas  present  ready  for  her. 

When  Phebe  got  to  be  six  years  old, 
she  thought  she  was  old  enough  to 
make  something  for  a  Christmas  pres- 
ent for  her  grandmother;  and  so  they 


THE    SILVER   LAKE    STORIES.  97 

were  both  very  busy  and  very  secret 
about  their  work.  After  Phebe  had 
gone  to  bed  at  night,  her  grandmother 
would  bring  out  some  gay  worsteds, 
with  which  she  was  knitting  a  beauti- 
ful warm  tippet  for  her  little  grand- 
daughter. 

And  whenever  Phebe  had  a  little 
time  to  herself,  she  climbed  up  the 
ladder  to  a  little  room  in  the  loft, 
where  she  had  a  rag  bag  filled  with 
bright  pieces  of  flannel  and  worsted, 
and  here  she  worked  away  very  busily. 

When  Christmas  morning  came, 
Phebe  was  perfectly  delighted  with 
the  beautiful  gay  tippet  her  grand- 


98  THE    SILVER   LAKE    STORIES. 

mother  gave  her;  and  what  do  you 
think  was  the  present  she  had  ready 
for  her  grandmother  ? 

You  must  not  laugh  when  I  tell 
you. 

It  was  an  iron-holder,  made  of  bright 
pieces  put  together  in  quarters :  it  had 
cotton  between,  and  was  nicely  bound 
round  the  edge ;  and  the  old  lady 
thought  it  was  beautiful;  and  was  so 
pleased  that  her  little  grand-daughter 
had  made  it  herself  for  her. 

Among  all  the  many  Christmas  pres- 
ents which  were  given  that  day,  I 
verily  believe  none  gave  more  real 
pleasure  than  the  gifts  exchanged  be- 


THE    SILVER   LAKE   STORIES.  99 

tween  little  Phebe  and  her  old  grand- 
mother. 

It  is  not  the  cost  of  presents  which 
makes  them  valuable,  it  is  the  love 
and  kind  feeling  they  show. 


A  CHRISTMAS  gift  was  sent  to  Mary 
Of  a  pretty  bright  canary, 
Wings  of  brown  and  breast  of  yellow, 
Oh,  he  was  a  pretty  fellow  1 

He  was  always  singing,  singing, 
All  day  long  his  notes  were  ringing, 
Long  before  the  day  was  breaking, 
He  his  music  sweet  was  making. 

Lovely  songs  his  throat  were  tilling, 
"Warbling  sweetly,  wildly  trilling, 


THE   SILVER   LAKE    STORIES.          101 

Oh !  'twas  a  delight  to  Mary, 
List'ning  to  her  bright  canary. 

But  his  singing  soon  was  over, 
For  one  day  he  did  discover 
That  another  bright  canary 
Had  been  sent  to  little  Mary. 

!Kow  this  other  birdie's  throat 
Could  not  raise  a  single  note, 
And  with  envy  she  was  filled, 
"When  she  heard  how  sweet  he  trilled. 

So  whene'er  our  poor  canary 
Tried  to  sing  a  song  to  Mary, 
Then  he  found  how  hard  the  fate 
Of  him  who  has  an  envious  mate. 

For  whene'er  his  song  began, 
In  a  rage  at  him  she  ran, 


102         THE   SILVER   LAKE   STORIES. 

Picked  the  feathers  from  his  head  ; 
"What  a  life  canary  led  ! 

When  the  warm  days  came  in  Spring, 
Much  canary  longed  to  sing, 
Till  at  last  one  sunny  day, 
To  his  joy  he  found  a  way. 

How  rejoiced  was  little  Mary, 
When  again  she  heard  canary  ; 
To  the  cage  she  ran  in  glee, 
What  did  little  Mary  see  ? 

He  was  singing  higher,  higher, 
With  his  head  outside  the  wire, 
While  his  mate  in  frantic  rage, 
Bustled  round  and  round  the  cage. 

Now  I'm  safe,  canary  said, 
For  you  cannot  peck  my  head  ; 


THE    SILVER   LAKE   STORIES.          103 

Now  I'll  sing,  and  all  day  long 
You  shall  listen  to  my  song." 

Birdies  who  would  seek  a  mate, 
Warning  from  canary  take  ; 
Hen-pecked  ones  who  peace  desire, 
Put  your  heads  outside  the  wire. 


h)ij  J^ee  6eK|f  piece 


ITTLE  Agnes  Warner's  father  was  a 
Jl/1  Poor  man.  He  worked  at  Ms 
trade  for  his  daily  bread,  and  lit- 
tle Agnes  had  none  of  those  luxuries  to 
which  many  of  my  little  readers  are 
accustomed. 

When  Christmas  eve  came,  in  some 
houses  in  the  village  long  rows  of 
stockings  were  hung  up  and  filled  with 
beautiful  gifts,  and  toys,  and  candies  ; 


THE   SILVER   LAKE    STORIES.          105 

in  other  houses  there  were  Christmas 
trees  lighted  up  with  many  wax  tapers, 
and  loaded  with  beautiful  presents; 
while  in  other  houses  still  Santa  Glaus 
himself,  or  an  image  made  to  repre- 
sent him,  with  his  back  and  his  pock- 
ets loaded  with  toys  and  good  things, 
stood  ready  to  give  up  his  treasures 
when  they  should  be  demanded  of 
him. 

But  neither  Christmas  stockings  nor 
Christmas  trees,  nor  Santa  Claus  him- 
self, appeared  in  Robert  Warner's  cot- 
tage ;  for  he,  poor  man,  had  too  many 
calls  upon  him  for  the  money  earned 
by  his  daily  toil,  to  spend  it  upon 


106         THE   SILVER   LAKE   STORIES. 

things  not  absolutely  necessary  for  the 
comfort  of  his  family. 

His  little  children,  however,  were 
not  forgotten,  for  when  Christmas 
morning  came,  their  mother  gave  to 
each  of  them  a  nice  warm  pair  of  mit- 
tens of  her  own  knitting,  and  Robert 
gave  each  of  them  a  bright  new  three 
cent  piece. 

The  children  were  very  happy,  for  it 
was  not  often  that  a  piece  of  money, 
even  so  much  as  a  penny,  that  they 
could  call  their  own,  came  between 
their  little  fingers ;  and  they  were 
busily  talking  together  as  to  what  they 


THE    SILVER   LAKE    STORIES.         107 

do  with  their  money  when  their 
father  called  them  to  prayers. 

"I'll  tell  you  what  I  mean  to  do," 
said  little  Robert;  "I  mean  to  spend 
one  penny  in  candy,  and  one  penny  in 
raisins,  and  one  penny  in  nuts." 

"And  I  mean  to  buy  a  beautiful 
bright  yellow  orange,"  said  Willie. 

"  And  I  think  I  shall  get  a  string  of 
beads,"  said  little  Emma,  "  if  I  can  get 
a  string  for  three  cents.  What  are  you 
going  to  do  with  your  money,  Agnes  ?" 

"  Oh,  I  don't  know  yet,"  said  Agnes ; 
"there  are  so  many  things  I  should  like, 
that  I  have  not  made  up  my  mind  yet. 
Mother  says  we  may  all  go  down  into 


108          THE    SILVER    LAKE    STORIES. 


HOW   TO    SPEND    THE    MONET. 

the  village  after  breakfast,  and  I  will 
see  then  what  I  can  get." 

In  the  midst  of  this  conversation,  as 


THE    SILVER   LAKE    STORIES.          109 

I  said  before,  their  father  called  them 
to  prayers.  The  portion  of  Scripture 
which  Robert  read  that  morning  was 
the  parable  of  the  talents,  which  you 
will  find  in  the  25th  chapter  of  Mat- 
thew. Our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  is  there 
represented  as  a  man  going  into  a  far 
country,  who  called  together  his  ser- 
vants, and  gave  each  of  them  different 
talents  to  use  in  the  best  manner  pos- 
sible. 

TThen  he  returned  he  called  them 
before  him  to  account  to  him  for  the 
manner  in  which  they  had  used  the 
talents  he  gave  them.  Those  who  had 
done  well  with  them  he  rewarded,  but 


110         THE    SILVER   LAKE    STORIES. 

the  man  who  had  neglected  his  talent, 
or  wasted  it,  he  punished. 

Robert  Warner's  children  always 
listened  very  attentively  when  their 
father  read  in  the  Bible,  for  they  knew 
he  would  close  the  book,  and  question 
them  upon  what  he  had  read.  After 
he  had  done  so  on  Christmas  morning, 
and  in  simple  language  had  explained 
the  parable,  they  all  knelt,  and  Robert 
prayed  to  God  that  they  might  all  im- 
prove well  the  talents  he  had  given 
them. 

While  Agnes  was  eating  her  break- 
fast, her  little  brain  was  busy  thinking, 
thinking,  thinking,  and  she  was  all  the 


THE    SILVER   LAKE    STORIES.          Ill 

time  asking  herself  this  question,  "  Is 
my  three  cent  piece  a  talent  ?" 

"I  do  believe  it  is  a  talent,"  said 
Agnes  to  herself,  as  she  ran  up  the 
steep  narrow  stairs  to  get  her  bonnet ; 
"  I  do  believe  it  is,  because  father  said 
anything  was  a  talent  that  we  could 
do  good  with.  Now  I  think  I  might  do 
some  good  with  my  three  cent  piece. 
Let's  see,  what  did  the  missionary  who 
came  here  from  China  say?  I  forget 
exactly  what ;  but  I  know  I  wondered 
to  hear  him  tell  how  many  pages  of  a 
tract  or  a  bible  could  be  printed  for  a 
penny.  And  I  know  my  little  testa- 
ment only  cost  sixpence;  so  it  must 


112          THE    SILVER   LAKE    STORIES. 

be  that  my  three  cent  piece  would 
help  a  little ;  and  if  it  would  help,  it 
would  not  be  right  for  me  to  spend  it 
in  any  other  way. 

"  And  then,"  she  continued,  "  if  I  am 
to  give  account  to  God  for  my  talents, 
what  could  I  say  about  my  three  cent 
piece  if  it  had  all  gone  for  candies  and 
such  things?  for  I  suppose  if  I  have 
but  few  talents,  I  have  no  right  to 
waste  them.  No,"  said  Agnes,  laying 
down  her  bonnet,  "  I  dare  not  spend  it 
for  candy,  or  nuts,  or  raisins;  I  must 
give  an  account  for  it,  and  into  the 
missionary  box  it  shall  go." 

Agnes  felt  much  more  easy  and  hap- 


THE   SILVER   LAKE    STORIES.         113 

py  after  her  mind  was  made  up,  and  I 
doubt  not  her  little  three  cent  piece 
was  accepted  by  him,  who  received 
the  poor  widow's  mite,  and  said  she 
had  given  more  than  all  the  rich  men 
who  had  cast  their  gifts  into  the  treas- 
ury, because,  like  little  Agnes,  she  had 
given  her  all. 

How  much  good  might  be  done  in 
the  world,  if  all  the  men  and  women, 
and  all  the  little  boys  and  girls,  used 
their  talents  as  well  as  little  Agnes 
"Warner  used  her  three  cent  piece. 


fy  Jjelr 


IRS.  Brown  and  Mrs.  Green  were 
once  talking  together  about  their 
mutual  friend,  Mrs.  W  -  ,  who, 
it  was  feared,  was  falling  into  habits 
of  intemperance.  A  little  daughter  of 
Mrs.  Green's  was  listening  earnestly  to 
the  conversation  ;  .  and  Mrs.  Brown, 
wishing  to  caution  her  friend,  said, 
"  Take  care,  little  pitchers  have  great 


THE    SILVER   LAKE   STORIES.          115 

They  continued  their  conversation  in 
a  low  tone,  but  presently  little  Fanny 

heard  her  mother  say,  "  Mrs.  "W is 

a  very  pleasant  woman,  but  there  is 
no  doubt  that  she  sometimes  has  a 
drop  in  her  eye ;"  by  which  she  meant 
that  she  sometimes  drank  liquor,  and 
became  intoxicated. 

The  next  time  Mrs.  W called  to 

see  Mrs.  Green,  little  Fanny  took  her 
station  opposite  to  her,  and  stared 
eagerly  in  her  face.  At  length  Mrs. 

W said  to  her,  "  My  dear,  why  do 

you  stare  at  me  so  ?" 

"Because,"  said  little  Fanny,  "I 
heard  my  mamma  and  Mrs.  Brown  say 


116          THE    SILVER   LAKE    STORIES. 

that  you  sometimes  have  a  ldrop  in 
your  eye]  and  I  want  to  see  if  it  is 
there  now."  The  lady  was  very  angry 
of  course,  and  immediately  left  the 
house,  and  never  spoke  to  Mrs.  Brown 
or  Mrs.  Green  again. 

People  should  remember  that  "  little 
pitchers  have  great  ears,"  and  little 
pitchers  should  be  careful  how  they 
use  their  mouths. 


fije  Ji 


A  WEE  little  titmouse  sat  perched  on  a  bough, 
When  down  close  beside  him  there  lit  an  old  crow, 
As  dark  and  as  black  as  the  night  was  he, 
And  thus  out  he  spoke  to  the  wee  chicakdee  ; 

Quit,  quit,  little  Tit, 

Your  chirping  a  bit, 
And  answer  some  questions  to  me, 

Little  Tit. 


the  first  place  I  should  much  like  to  know 
If  for  aught  you  were  made  but  for  food  to  the 
Crow  ; 


THE    SILVER    LAKE    STORIES.          119 

'Tis  absurd  to  suppose  such  a  wee  thing  as  you 
Any  good  in  this  wide  world  of  ours  can  do  ; 
So  call  up  your  wit, 
You  wee  little  Tit, 

And  say  why  you  won't  make  me  a  nice  dainty 
bit, 

Little  Tit. 


The  crow  looked  so  black,  and  he  moved  up  so 

near, 
That  the  heart  of  the  titmouse  went  pit-pat  with 

fear ; 

But  he  thought  if  his  time  had  come  to  go, 
He  would  speak  some  plain  truths  to  his  cruel 
black  foe ; 

So  said  he,  "  Old  Crow, 
Don't  all  the  birds  know 
What  a  wicked  old  fellow  you  are, 
Old  Crow  ? 


120         THE   SILVER   LAKE    STORIES. 

"  I  know,  to  be  sure,  I'm  a  wee  little  thing, 

But  God  made  me  to  play,  and  be  cheerful,  and 

sing; 

And  of  some  little  use  he  has  formed  me  to  be, 
For  I  eat  up  the  worms  that  destroy  herb  and  tree. 
So  ho,  old  Crow, 
I'm  of  some  use,  I  know ; 
And  now  let  us  see  what  you  do, 
Old  Crow. 


"  Why  down  you  come  in  the  farmer's  field, 
When  he's  scattered  the  seed  which  he  hopes  will 

yield, 

And  you  carry  it  off  in  your  ravenous  maw, 
And  away  you  fly  with  your  caw,  caw,  caw  1 
So  ho,  old  Crow, 
Perhaps  I  don't  know 
What  a  horrible  thief  you  are, 
Old  Crow  ! 


THE    SILVER   LAKE   STORIES.          121 

"  And  down  you  swoop  'mid  the  farmer's  ricks, 
And  take  off  young  turkeys,  and  goslings,  and 

chicks  ; 
Never  heeding  their  pain,  or  their  poor  mother's 

fright, 

But  griping  them  close  in  your  upward  night. 
Ho,  ho,  old  Crow, 
So  you  see  I  know 
"\Vhat  a  murderous  wretch  you  are, 
Old  Crow. 


"  And  more  plain  truths  I  can  tell  you  too, 
Like  all  other  oppressors  a  coward  are  you, 
For  I've  seen  you  make  the  best  use  of  your  wings, 
At  the  sight  of  a  bundle  of  ragged  old  things. 

So  so,  old  Crow, 

You  see  I  know, 
What  a  silly  old  coward  you  are, 

Old  Crow!" 


122          THE    SILVER    LAKE    STORIES. 

The  crow  turned  blacker  than  ever,  and  flew 
At  the  poor  little  titmouse  to  bite  him  in  two  ; 
But  just  then  came  the  sound  of  a  crack  and  a 

bang, 

And  the  old  crow  fell  dead,  and  the  chick-a-dee 
sang, 

Ho,  ho,  old  Crow ! 
Down,  down  you  go ; 
May  all  tyrants  come  down  like  you, 
Old  Crow ! 


NOTE. — Lest  I  should  be  supposed  to  have  mistaken  the 
crow  for  the  hawk,  I  refer  the  reader  to  the  New  York  State 
Natural  History,  where  he  will  see  that  the  common  crow  car- 
ries off  and  devours  young  turkeys,  goslings,  and  chickens. 


JLiffie  ^ 

(A    FEMPERASCE  STORY  IN  RHYME.) 

A  LADT  at  her  window  sat, 

And  saw  a  little  girl  each  day, 
With  ragged  clothes  and  tattered  hat, 

Enter  a  shop  across  the  way. 

Beneath  her  arm  she  always  held 
An  empty  bottle  when  she  came ; 

But  when  she  went  away,  'twas  filled 

With  that  which  causeth  tears  and  shame. 

For  liquor  there  was  to  be  sold, 
And  men  were  ruined  every  day  ; 


THE    SICK   FATHER. 


THE    SILVER   LAKE    STORIES.          125 

And  gave  their  clothes,  and  gave  their  gold, 
And  threw  their  priceless  souls  away. 

The  poor  child  came,  and  came  again, 

But  well  I  recollect  one  day, 
She  with  her  bottle  came  in  vain, 

;Twas  empty  when  she  went  away. 

For  as  I  guessed  by  her  sad  air, 

The  man  the  liquor  did  refuse  ; 
Soon  she  came  back,  her  feet  were  bare, 

And  in  her  hand  she  held  her  shoes. 

The  lady  took  her  hat  and  shawl, 

And  quickly  went  the  child  to  meet ; 

Determined  that  she'd  stop  her  there, 
And  learn  her  story  in  the  street. 

But  when  she  saw  the  lady  pause, 
As  if  she  something  had  to  say, 


126         THE    SILVER   LAKE    STORIES. 

She  hid  her  bottle  'neath  her  shawl, 
And  tried  to  hurry  on  her  way. 

The  lady  gently  said,  "  Pray  stop, 

My  child,  and  truly  tell  me  why 
You  come  so  often  to  this  shop ; 

What  is  it  that  you  come  to  buy  ?" 

The  child  looked  down  and  seemed  distressed, 
Then  raised  her  head,  and  said,  "  I'd  rather/ 

Lady,  you'd  let  me  quickly  pass, 

'Tis  something  I  must  take  to  father." 

The  lady  said,  with  accents  mild, 

"Then  come  to  me,  my  dear,  to-morrow." 

The  voice  of  kindness  touched  the  child, 
She  came,  and  told  her  tale  of  sorrow. 

LADY. 

Now  tell  me,  child,  why,  every  day, 
You  seek  this  shop  across  the  way, 


THE    SILVER    LAKE    STORIES.          127 

And  why  your  clothes  so  ragged  are ; 
Have  you  no  one  for  you  to  care  ? 

BESSIE. 

Lady,  I've  begged  from  door  to  door, 
'Till  they  are  tired  of  seeing  me  come, 

And  tell  me  I  shall  have  no  more, 
And  roughly  bid  me  to  go  home. 

But  tell  me,  tell  me,  lady  kind, 

What  else  but  begging  can  I  do  ? 
For  father's  sick,  and  mother's  blind, 

And  cannot  see  to  work  and  sew. 

A  little  work  sometimes  she  gets, 

By  which  she  may  a  trifle  earn  ; 
Sometimes  she  for  the  neighbors  knits, 

And  they  do  work  for  her  in  turn. 

* 

But  then  she  never  could  teach  me 

To  mend  my  own  and  brothers'  clothes  ; 


128          THE    SILVER    LAKE    STORIES. 

For  I  the  oldest  am  of  three, 
And  oh !  we  suffer  many  woes  ! 

And  oftentimes  we  have  no  bread, 
And  little  brothers  cry  for  some, 

But  we  must  learn  to  do  without, 
Father,  you  know,  must  have  the  rum. 

Once,  lady,  we'd  a  pleasant  home, 
And  father  then  was  good  and  kind  ; 

But  since  he  took  to  drinking  rum, 
He  beats  us  and  our  mother  kind. 

And  all  our  furniture  is  gone, 

And  our  nice  house  we  had  to  leave ; 

"We've  almost  nothing  to  put  on, 

Our  clothes  for  liquor  we  must  give. 

I  tried  to  save  poor  Willie's  shoes, 
For  they  were  very  nice  and  stout, 


THE    SILVER   LAKE    STORIES.          129 

And  hid  them  safe  till  yesterday, 
When  father  bade  me  bring  them  out. 

But  I  took  mine  and  gave  the  man, 

He  means,  I  know,  to  take  our  all, 
For  only  yesterday  he  came 

And  took  off  mother's  nice  warm  shawl. 

And  father  now  is  very  bad, 

He  screams  and  wakes  us  all  at  night ; 
Sometimes  he  says  he's  going  mad, 

And  shrieks  with  terror  and  affright. 

And  horrid  shapes  come  round  his  bed  ; 

He  says  their  burning  eyeballs  glare, 
And  bids  me  drive  them  from  his  head, 

But  I  could  never  see  them  there. 

Poor  mother's  heart  is  almost  broke, 
She  can  do  naught  but  weep  and  sigh, 


130          THE    SILVER   LAKE    STORIES. 

And  says  that  were  it  not  for  us, 
She'd  gladly  lay  her  down  and  die. 

"  Bessie,"  the  lady  said,  "  if  you 
"Will  come  to  me  each  Sabbath  day, 

I'll  take  you  to  the  Sabbath  school ; 
You  shall  be  taught  to  read  and  pray. 

"  And  if  to  me  each  day  you'll  come, 
I'll  gladly  teach  you  how  to  sew, 

And  make  and  mend  for  those  at  home, 
That  they  no  more  may  ragged  go." 

And  Bessie  now  has  learned  to  sew, 
And  of  her  brothers  to  take  care  ; 

And  many  household  works  to  do, 
And  all  things  have  a  different  air. 

And  she  has  learned  quite  well  to  read 
The  Holy  Book  that  God  has  given, 


THE    SILVER   LAKE    STORIES.          131 

Her  father  from  that  book  has  heard 
That  "  drunkards  cannot  enter  heaven." 

"Dear  father,"  little  Bessie  said, 

While  sitting  by  his  bed  one  day, 
"  I'll  tell  you  what  will  cure  your  head, 

And  drive  those  horrid  shapes  away. 

"  If  you  will  sign  the  temperance  pledge, 
And  never  touch  strong  drink  again, 

They'll  fly  away,  and  with  them  all 
Our  sorrow,  poverty,  and  pain." 

FATHER. 
Give  me  the  paper,  child,  I'll  sign, 

I've  caused  you  all  enough  of  woe  ; 
I'll  rise  and  leave  this  wretched  bed, 

And  to  my  daily  work  I'll  go. 

And  now  he  brings  his  earnings  home, 
And  places  them  in  Bessie's  hand  ; 


132          THE    SILVER    LAKE    STORIES. 

And  every  morn  and  night  she  conies, 
And  lays  the  Bible  on  the  stand. 

She  reads  a  portion  of  God's  word, 

And  then  they  kneel  and  pray  to  heaven, 

That  father's  voice  in  prayer  is  heard, 

For  strength  to  keep  the  pledge  he's  given. 

"Will  not  each  little  girl  and  bov, 
Who  may  this  tale  of  Bessie  read, 

Try  if  they  cannot  give  some  joy, 
And  do  some  good  as  Bessie  did  ? 


Hie 

(FROM  THE  FRENCH.) 

QXRISCILLA  lost  her  mother  when  she 
was  very  young;  her  father  was 
in  the  East  Indies,  and  the  child 
was  carried  to  the  house  of  her  aunt, 
Mrs.  Hamilton,  who  loved  her  tenderly, 
because  of  the  affection  which  she  felt 
for  her  brother ;  and  who  brought  her 
up  with  the  utmost  care  and  attention. 
Her  daughters  Emily  and  Lucy  did 
not  love  their  cousin  with  an  equal  de- 


MARTHA    AND    PRISCILLA    IN   THE    GARDEN. 


THE    SILVER    LAKE    STORIES.          135 

gree  of  attachment.  Lucy  loved  her 
dearly,  but  Emily  was  jealous  and  en- 
vious, and  could  not  "bear  to  see  the 
tokens  of  affection  which  were  lavished 
upon  her  cousin  by  her  mother. 

Priscilla  had  an  affectionate  heart, 
and  she  often  wept  for  hours  at  the 
idea  of  having  offended  her  cousin, 
though  she  could  not  imagine  how  she 
had  done  so.  In  fact,  it  never  entered 
her  mind  that  any  one  could  have 
taken  a  dislike  to  her,  when  she  had 
done  nothing  to  displease  them;  she 
was  far  from  suspecting  that  when  her 
aunt  praised  the  sweetness  of  her  tem- 
per, her  lively  disposition,  her 


136  THE    SILVER   LAKE   STORIES. 

tion  to  her  lessons,  and  progress  in  all 
her  studies,  her  gentle  manners  to- 
wards the  domestics,  and  her  human- 
ity and  kindness  towards  others ;  she 
never  imagined,  I  say,  that  these 
praises  could  increase  the  dislike 
which  her  cousin  had  taken  to  her  the 
moment  she  entered  the  house.  She 
supposed,  on  the  contrary,  that  she 
would  endeavor  to  imitate  her  good 
qualities,  and  not  seek  to  undervalue 
them.  ?'• 

As  they  grew  older,  Emily's  dislike 
to  her  cousin  increased ;  and  Priscilla 
constantly  endeavored  to  make  Emily 
think  more  kindly  of  her,  by  taking 


THE    SILVER   LAKE    STORIES.          137 

every  opportunity  to  oblige  her.  If 
Emily  had  a  piece  of  work  to  do  of 
which  she  was  tired,  Priscilla  always 
offered  to  finish  it  for  her ;  if  she  ex- 
pressed a  wish  for  flowers,  Priscilla 
would  search  through  the  whole  vil- 
lage, to  find  the  most  beautiful  and 
fragrant  flowers,  to  make  a  bouquet  for 
her ;  but  all  her  trouble  was  in  vain ; 
the  pains  which  she  took  to  please, 
seemed  only  to  make  her  more  odious 
to  her  cousin  Emily. 

One  day  Mrs.  Hamilton  returned 
from  the  city,  where  she  had  been  to 
buy  different  things  to  send  to  her  sis- 
ter in  Scotland.  Among  these  pur- 


138          THE    SILVER   LAKE   STORIES. 

chases,  a  very  beautiful  work-box, 
which  she  intended  to  send  her,  was 
shown  to  the  young  ladies,  and  greatly 
admired  by  all  three  of  them.  It  wae 
very  delicately  made,  and  after  the) 
had  sufficiently  examined  the  work- 
manship, Mrs.  Hamilton  placed  it  upon 
a  little  table,  and  gave  strict  orders 
that  no  person  should  touch  it;  but, 
on  returning  in  the  evening  from  the 
house  of  one  of  her  friends,  with  whom 
she  had  dined,  and  thinking  that  curi- 
osity might  well  induce  one  of  the  ser- 
vants to  open  it,  she  took  it,  with  the 
paper  which  was  around  it,  just  as  it 


THE    SILVER   LAKE    STORIES.          139 

was  upon  the  table,  and  shut  it  up  in 
the  library. 

The  next  day  she  was  very  busy  put- 
ting up  the  articles  she  had  bought  for 
her  sister;  and  as  she  was  about  to 
put  cotton  in  the  work-box,  to  prevent 
the  little  winders  and  other  articles 
from  rubbing  against  each  other,  she 
was  much  astonished  to  find  that  the 
material  which  covered  the  box  was 
green,  instead  of  pale  crimson,  and 
that  the  different  parts  of  which  it  was 
composed,  were  entirely  unlike  those 
of  the  box  she  had  bought  the  evening 
before. 

Lucy  declared  it  was  not  the  same 


14:0         THE    SILVER   LAKE    STORIES. 

box  her  mamma  had  shown  her ;  Em- 
ily was  of  the  same  opinion,  but  Pris- 
cilla  reddened  and  said  not  a  word. 

"  Some  one  has  broken  my  box,  and 
has  replaced  it  by  one  not  nearly  so 
pretty,"  said  Mrs.  Hamilton  in  great 
anger.  "  I  expressly  commanded  every 
one  of  you  not  to  touch  it,  and  I  will 
know  who  has  done  this  mischief!" 

"I  fear,"  said  Emily,  pretending  to 
be  much  impressed  with  the  confusion 
of  her  cousin,  "that  it  can  be  no  one 
but  Priscilla,  who  has  had  the  misfor- 
tune to  break  it ;  and  indeed,  mamma, 
if  you  will  take  the  trouble  to  see  how 
she  blushes,  and  that  she  cannot  say 


THE    SILVER   LAKE    STORIES. 

one  word  in  her  own  defence,  you  will 
no  longer  doubt  her  guilt." 

Priscilla,  in  the  most  sincere  and 
earnest  tone,  assured  her  aunt  that  she 
had  not  touched  the  box  since  she 
showed  it  to  her  the  evening  before. 
Emily  said  the  same  for  herself,  and 
assured  her  mother  that  she  had  not 
entered  the  room  from  the  time  she 
went  out  till  she  returned. 

Mrs.  Hamilton  being  determined 
to  know  the  truth,  asked  each  of  the 
young  ladies  what  she  had  done  with 
the  guinea  which  she  received  on  New 
Year's  day,  adding  that  the  box  cost 
that  sum  of  money,  and  that  they 


142         THE   SILVER   LAKE   STORIES. 

could  not  have  replaced  it  without 
paying  the  same. 

"  Here  is  mine  in  my  little  work- 
bag,"  hastily  cried  Emily. 

"  You  know,  my  dear  mamma,"  said 
Lucy,  "  that  half  of  mine  has  been  used 
in  buying  gold  leaf  and  drawing-paper, 
and  here's  the  other  half  in  my  purse." 

"Where  is  your  guinea,  Priscilla?" 
asked  Mrs.  Hamilton.  "What  can  be 
the  reason  that,  instead  of  showing  the 
same  haste  which  your  cousins  have 
done,  to  justify  yourself,  you  only  red- 
den, and  hang  your  head,  and  say  not 
a  single  word  ?" 

"  I  cannot  show  my  guinea,"  replied 


THE    SILVER   LAKE    STORIES.          143 

Priscilla,  "  but  believe  me,  dear  aunt, 
when  I  declare  to  you  that  I  have  never 
touched  your  box." 

Emily,  who  had  her  reasons  for  wish- 
ing that  they  should  not  talk  any  long- 
er about  this  matter,  though  not  for 
any  kindness  to  her  cousin,  begged  her 
mamma  not  to  endeavor  to  discover 
anything  farther  as  to  the  box,  for  it 
only  distressed  the  poor  child,  and 
made  her  tell  falsehoods ;  but  old  Mar- 
tha," the  house-keeper,  who  had  been 
all  this  time  pulling  the  strings  of  her 
apron,  or  rolling  them  between  her 
fingers,  clasping  her  hands,  and  rais- 
ing her  eyes  towards  heaven,  and 


I4A         THE    SILVER    LAKE    STORIES. 

making  other  gestures,  which  showed 
her  impatience,  could  no  longer  con- 
tain her  indignation,  but  asked  Emily 
in  a  loud  tone  of  voice,  how  she  had 
the  boldness  to  look  her  mother  in  the 
face,  and  tell  her  so  many  falsehoods, 
when  she  ought  to  know  that  she  was 
at  the  same  time  guilty,  not  only  of  a 
shameful  imposture,  in  accusing  an  in- 
nocent person  of  the  fault  which  she 
had  herself  committed,  but  also  of  cruel 
ingratitude  for  a  service  which  certain- 
ly merited  the  greatest  praise,  and  for 
which  she  knew  vely  well  she  was  in- 
debted to  the  generosity  and  kindness 
of  her  cousin  ? 


THE   SILVER   LAKE   STORIES.          145 

She  then  informed  her  mistress  that, 
as  she  was  walking  with  Priscilla 
around  the  garden,  about  half  an  hour 
after  she  left  the  house,  that  they  ap- 
proached a  window  of  the  parlor,  which 
was  open,  and  there  they  saw  the 
beautiful  work-box  broken  in  many 
pieces,  upon  the  floor,  and  Emily,  with 
her  back  towards  them,  busy  in  gather- 
ing them  up ;  that  Emily  had  begged 
her,  in  a  low  voice,  to  say  nothing 
about  it,  and  that,  as  they  continued  to 
ramble,  they  saw  Emily  go  and  throw 
the  pieces  into  the  fish-pond,  at  the 
end  of  the  garden,  and  afterwards  run 
up  stairs  as  quickly  as  possible. 
10 


146          THE    SILVER    LAKE    STORIES. 

"  Dear  Miss  Priscilla,"  continued  the 
old  housekeeper,  "  begged  me  to  do  her 
a  kindness,  for  which  she  would  be 
grateful  all  her  life,  and  that  was,  to 
go  to  the  city,  to  the  shop  where  you 
purchased  the  work-box,  and  to  buy 
one  with  her  guinea  exactly  like  it ; 
and  I  did  it  to  oblige  her,  and  because 
I  have  never  been  able  to  refuse  her 
anything  she  asked  of  me,  although  I 
must  acknowledge  that  Miss  Emily  did 
not  deserve  such  kindness.  This  is,  in 
fact,  but  one  of  a  hundred  falsehoods 
which  she  has  told  about  Priscilla,  and 
of  the  unkind  actions  with  which  she 
has  returned  her  kindness,  who  has  left 


THE    SILVER    LAKE    STORIES.          14:7 

nothing  undone  to  oblige  her  and  to 
hide  her  faults. 

"I  thought  that  the  box  I  bought 
was  so  exactly  like  yours,  madam,  that 
you  would  never  know  what  had  hap- 
pened. Miss  Priscilla  was  delighted 
that  we  had  spared  you  the  vexation 
of  seeing  that  the  box  had  been  broken, 
and  her  cousin  the  anger  which  she 
would  have  incurred  for  disobeying 
your  orders.  We  have,  however,  failed 
in  our  expectation.  But  Miss  Emily 
must  have  understood,  when  her  cousin 
could  not  show  her  guinea,  the  use 
which  she  had  made  of  it,  and  this  is 
the  reason  why  she  wished  you  to  dis- 


148          THE    SILVER   LAKE    STORIES. 

miss  the  subject,  for  she  well  knew 
that  unless  you  did  so,  her  falsehood 
and  deceit  would  be  clearly  shown  to 
you." 

It  is  almost  useless  to  add,  that  Em- 
ily entirely  lost  the  confidence  of  her 
mother.  Priscilla  from  that  time  lived 
very  happily,  and  was  tenderly  loved 
by  Mrs.  Hamilton,  and  by  her  dear 
cousin  Lucy.  Old  Martha  doted  on 
her,  and  took  great  pains  to  tell  her 
friends  and  acquaintances  the  story  of 
the  work-box,  which  did  so  much  hon- 
or to  her  dear  Priscilla,  and  caused 
such  deep  mortification  to  Emily. 


O 

cn 


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